Hermida Audio Technology Tiki Drive Pedal Review

All clips recorded with a BC Audio No. 8 amp with an SM57 off-axis into a Chandler LTD-1 mic preamp (no eq). Recorded into Pro Tools through an Apogee Symphony I/O.

It’s not uncommon for guitarists to be
impressed with the work of Alfonso Hermida.
The aerospace and electrical engineer turned
pedal designer has won over such tone-obsessive
pros as Robben Ford and Brad Paisley, and his
Zendrive and Mosferatu pedals have garnered
raves among players and reviewers alike.

Even knowing that reputation, I was knocked
flat by the Hermida Tiki Drive. It was designed
with input from the Cars’ Elliot Easton and was
built to satisfy his desire to color an essentially clean
amp with multiple shades of overdrive and distortion.
But it was also built to deliver extremely high-gain
tones while retaining clarity, focus, and attack.
It’s an ambitious agenda for one pedal, but the Tiki
Drive pulls it off with little compromise.

Built to Be Flexible
The Tiki Drive control layout merits a little
more attention than your average overdrive.
Controls for Volume, a first and second gain
stage called Gain 1 and Gain 2, Tone, and Voice
are arranged in two rows on the top of the pedal.

The Gain 1 and Gain 2 are wired in series
and voiced independently to give the pedal the
potential to move from slightly overdriven to
higher-gain, metal-style overdrive. The Voice
control helps fine-tune the pedal for a given amp
by manipulating midrange harmonic content.

Sweet Spots
To evaluate the Tiki Drive, I ran it into a BC
Audio No. 8—an amp with beautiful clean
tones—through an Eminence Governor 1x12
cab, as well as a late-’60s Marshall basketweave
cabinet with original G12H-30s. I set the BC
for a full, clean tone that didn’t break up unless
hit very hard, then turned all five of the Tiki
Drive’s controls to noon. The sound that leapt
from the speakers was a classic hard-rock distortion
with just the right amount of bite and
crunch. But the sound was far from generic, and
I particularly liked the way the pedal enabled
me to work with the intrinsic touch sensitivity
of my Tom Holmes 455 humbucker-equipped
Epiphone Sheraton and explore this semi-hollowbody’s
harmonic complexity.

Though twisting the Voice control back and
forth didn’t produce a dramatic effect, the knob
was very handy for shaving off a bit of top end
or adding a slight bit of brightness to the signal.
It was also useful for helping me find the sweet
spot on my amplifier as it worked with the Tiki
Drive and the Sheraton. And at a setting of
about 1 o’clock, I found a perfect recipe that was
neither too bright nor too dull.

One real surprise and bonus was the effectiveness
of the Tone control, which adds a nice
amount of sizzle within a frequency range that
suggests a high presence knob. Cranking the Tone
all the way yielded a sound that wouldn’t be a
stretch to call Dumble-like.

The Gain controls are wired in series so
they cascade into each other for more distortion
potential, and the distinctive voice of each stage
enables delightfully complex tones. Pegging
Gain 1 gives the Tiki Drive some of the characteristics
of a well-rounded fuzztone with a little
spit on top of smooth distortion. Combining
Gain 1 and 2 opened the gates to a world of
exciting sounds ranging from vintage Marshall to
extreme metal distortion. I was really impressed
with how Gain knobs 1 and 2 worked with the
Tone control to create heavily overdriven sounds
that retained chime, clarity, and attack. Cranking
Gain 1 and setting Gain 2 to noon generated an
incredibly thick sound with sustain that lasted
until I dropped the note.

Plugging in a Godin ICON Type 2 equipped
with Duncan Convertibles, I switched to single-coil
mode to investigate the pedal’s range with
chimey and more Strat-like sounds. Here again,
the Voice control helped me find the sweetest
spot for the Godin and the No. 8 amp—this
time favoring an almost fully clockwise position.
It was great to be able to fine-tune the sound to
get the most response out of the guitar, pedal,
and amp. The Voice control clearly separates the
Tiki from other overdrives. Indeed, you have to
work to make this pedal sound harsh or abrasive.

When I played a Les Paul, a Hamer Korina
Special, and a Guild Brian May through the Tiki
Drive, each guitar remained true to its roots and
retained its tonal character, whether I explored
subtly overdriven settings or entered half-way-to-
Armageddon distortion zones. For such a little
box, the Tiki Drive offers a world of sounds.

The Verdict
Hermida has a real gem in the Tiki Drive. For one
pedal to cover so many different overdrive sounds
is mindboggling, and the Tone and Voice knobs
are brilliant testaments to Alfonso Hermida’s commitment
to refining the overdrive and distortion
pedal concept. Its quiet operation and versatility
makes this a definite keeper for me. In fact, it
might be the only pedal I need for many studio
sessions. The Tiki Drive is a true overachiever.

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